Explaining why that speech was so muddy

September 11, 2013

Obama’s Syria speech Tuesday night was strange for a variety of reasons, not least the odd spectacle of hearing a case for military action (the first half of the speech) punctuated by a plea for diplomacy (the second half).

There are only so many ways for a black pol to win statewide

September 09, 2013

Criticize Cory Booker from the left and you’re likely to get two legitimate forms of pushback: The first is that, despite his close ties to big business, Booker has spent too much of his life fighting for (even living among) the poor to fit the profi

There's no other way when you're dealing with loons

August 28, 2013

When you’re dealing with loons, you have to throw out the book on negotiating and suppress your conciliatory impulses (ahem, Mr. President). The lunatics will somehow manage to rationalize as victory anything short of total defeat. And so total defeat is what you have to give them.

Patton, Boggs and the End of Big Law

August 09, 2013

When I wrote last month about the loud wheezing noises coming from the world of Big Law—that is, the 200 or so biggest, most profitable law firms in the country—the industry’s staunchest defenders protested that I had the story all wrong: Big Law may